I'm a botanical artist living near Canberra, Australia and I teach botanical and insect illustration. Botanical watercolour painting is my passion. I especially love painting Australian native plants, and the subject of this tutorial, the Acacia pycnantha, or Golden Wattle is the floral emblem of Australia. It also happens to grow in my neighbourhood, and brightens our days each spring. There are so many species of Acacia that hopefully wherever you are, you might be able to find one growing near you. There is a lot to be gained from studying a plant closely and painting each part of it. After you do this a few times you will never look at plants in the same way again - and you will feel like me, too many plants to paint and not enough time. I hope that whether you are a beginner or an artist with some experience, that you will learn something from my tutorial, about the way I approach painting Acacias, and botanical watercolours in general. Enjoy!

By the way, if you are concerned that you don't have an Acacia nearby from which to obtain a specimen, there is enough information - photographs and even my sketch - that you can use to continue without having a live specimen in front of you.

Copyright of this image and composition belongs to Cheryl Hodges. 

Credits

Producer: Jack Hodges

Music:

Undertow by Scott Buckley - www.scottbuckley.com.au

Solace by Scott Buckley - www.scottbuckley.com.au